re: Pac12 is dead; are we next?

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He’ll be 5-3 100bs

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Get his arse on a golf course!

We played some rough football in high school. I remember only one injury that resulted in long term issues. The kid did actually get paralyzed. It was a sad day. I didn’t know the kid, but still.

Also, of course there will be more injuries at the high school level. There are a lot more high school teams than college teams.

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HS players techniques aren't what they should be most times.

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That I will agree with. A lot these kids don’t get proper instruction or properly fitted gear. I saw that a ton.

I also mentioned that my kids are in competitive swimming: they don’t like football like I do.

And even the guys I knew 15 years ago who loved the game enough to play it from pee wee to senior year ended up with a bitter taste in their mouth as they were all usually 2nd or 3rd string by careers end, passed up by younger kids with parents willing to donate more to the booster club if their kid got to start. GA high schools nowadays mirror the colleges with the coaches often being the highest paid employee at many schools, even those who aren’t typically counted among the consistently great teams. And the coaches know who makes that possible and they cater to the parents willing to spend and some recruit kids to their district, taking away an opportunity for a less talented local kid. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze for a lot of kids and their parents for all the reasons you mentioned.

In the next 10-15 years the PAC 12 will either dissolve as conference and go to other conferences or CFB as we know it will only be the top 50-60 or so programs in some sort of new federation where only the biggest programs will play each other and the have a playoff. Thats the only way to consolidate and save the interest for the sport. CFB attendance and interest will only take the next step by become exclusive with its product. Have big time annual opponents from the east coast going west coast and the interest will grow.

I could see

Washington
Oregon
California
Stanford
USC going BIG10

UCLA
Arizona
Arizona St
Utah
Colorado going BIG12

Washington St
Oregon St probably go to MWC or lower level play.

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Then how would you explain the growing popularity of Lacrosse? It's a violent sport, they just don't have a brain damage problem yet.

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My son played lacrosse in high school, it's a pretty fun sport.
Basically, the ideal defensive player is a free safety, and the ideal offensive player is a RB. Plus, you get to carry aluminum sticks, to "swipe at the ball".

You still get some nice impacts in that game




If football ever goes away, I can only imagine what the SEC would be like in this
They'd be blowing people up all over the field.

Don’t think it makes a difference.

Children of snowflake parents weren’t going to amount to anything more than high school football role players anyway. Those with the genes to excel at the next level are still playing.

This is why I think the next big conference shakeup will be a merger of the Pac 12 and Big 12 with several teams from each conference being left out. Both conferences are facing the same issues that led to the SWC and Big 8 merger. The Pac 12 is starving for more money, more eyeballs, and a larger recruiting presence. The Big 12 is starting to look like the old SWC again with a couple big name schools and the rest tagging along their coattails in a league with a small physical presence. USC and Oregon badly need Texas and OU, and Texas and OU need them. The fan bases of those schools can't handle the boring conference schedules much longer.

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This is why I think the next big conference shakeup will be a merger of the Pac 12 and Big 12 with several teams from each conference being left out.

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Makes sense, but they better find some leadership. 99% of both conferences problems wouldn't exist if they had decent leadership 20 years ago...and it doesn't appear to be any better today.